...DRUGS AND ALCOHOL Introduction The use and misuse of alcohol and other non-prescription drugs is one of the more controversial issues in our society, and often a source of conflict between generations and between sections of society. It’s not the purpose of this page – or of the NTU student counselling service – to tell people how to behave or to seek to label them as alcohol or drug abusers. However alcohol and other drugs are powerful substances with a potential to harm users; we would encourage people to take care of themselves when considering using them and to avoid taking any risks which they might regret later. No universal classifications ignore the fact that significant alcohol and drug use is an accepted part of many social groups. What is seen as risky or inappropriate behaviour by one group is accepted as normal by another. Use of drink and drugs can be classified as – 1. Abstinent – no use is made 2. Controlled – people have made a conscious decision have evaluated the risks and can stop if they want. 3. Impulsive – use is unpredictable and can lead to unexpected accidents and harm. However this is not continual or dependent use. 4. Habitual – the use of alcohol or drugs have become a significant and important part of the person’s lifestyle. Stopping would not be easy. 5. Dependent – there is a high degree of physical and psychological addiction. Alcohol and drug use disrupts or rules the person’s life. Stopping is not possible without considerable support...
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...being the youngest of seven. Her siblings had children more than a decade before I was born so the majority of my cousins when I was around ten years old, have already initiated in starting their lives and careers. One cousin always stood out in particular to me. He never came to family parties or events, never wished anyone a Happy Birthday, or tried reaching out to us at all. Being that adults always surrounded me when I was growing up, my mother knew I was mature enough to tell me that my cousin was an alcoholic and a drug addict. Taking in that information at such a young age was very overwhelming considering it was my first time hearing of this in my family. It first started with the alcohol. As the years went on, he started getting so careless and irresponsible that he lost his very well paid job in Manhattan. He became so depressed that his addict state of mind started growing stronger and more powerful until he found a new addiction. Drugs. Instead of him being rowdy or uncontrollable, he started self-medicating himself to become more tranquil and forget about his troubles. While doing this, he never thought about how this was affecting his family and loved ones. Fortunately, since he has such a loving and supportive...
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...The first article I read was about the harmful long and short term affects of alcohol. There are many different ways that alcohol can affect your brain even if it is just short term drinking including impaired memory, possible blackouts, impaired judgment, slurred speech and difficulty walking just to name a few. There are many different long term effects of alcohol that many alcoholics suffer from including but not limited to brain damage. Women are more prone to be more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and should be more careful in preventing brain damage. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome and liver disease are two of the most common problems that can arise from alcohol abuse. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is the result of brain damage caused by excessive drinking and it can be either long lasting or short lived. Liver disease is also caused by drinking and the liver is damaged because it is responsible for breaking down the alcohol and harmless byproducts but after a while it starts to not be able to keep up with too much alcohol for an extended period of time. Alcohol can also harm developing minds of unborn babies causing them to have fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS. FAS is can cause long term or even lifelong problems for the child effected. The second article I read was about vicodin addiction and how it affected people. Vicodin addiction has just recently been becoming more and more common with even more people living in denial but there are ways to kick the addiction...
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...Analysis Paper 3: Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Belinda D. Hicks Liberty University Abstract This paper offers a perspective on adolescent alcohol and drug abuse by focusing on identifying common predictors of adolescent drug, and alcohol. Alcohol and other drug use among adolescents has been a public problem for decades. However, it seems that the problem is increasing more every year. Although, some adolescents make it through these years with, on balance, more positive experiences, but as the writer indicated more negative experiences of alcohol and drugs are on the rise. Substance abuse can lead to serious problems such as poor schoolwork, loss of friends, problems at home, and lasting legal problems. Alcohol and drug abuse is a leading cause of teen death or injury related to car crashes, suicides, violence, and drowning. Adolescences experience tragic consequences and others develop chronic problems of abuse and dependence. The broad developmental themes during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood, heavy drinking and drug use increases during the transition from junior high to high school and has to potential to extend to college. The majority of young people make it through. There will also be a discussion on how the family- peers and individual characteristics/variables are correlated with drug and alcohol abuse in adolescence. There will also be review connections between each system risk factor and...
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...DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY TERMS Drug and alcohol abuse contributes to billions of dollars of lost productivity and thousands of work place injuries every year. Our policy is to employ a work force free from alcohol abuse or the use of illegal drugs. This company takes drug and alcohol abuse as a serious matter and will not tolerate it. The company absolutely prohibits the use of alcohol or non-prescribed drugs at the work place or while on company premises. It also discourages non-work place drug and alcohol abuse. The use, sale or possession of alcohol or drugs while on the job or on company property will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination, and may have legal consequences. Employees are expected and required to report to work on time and in appropriate mental and physical condition for work. It is our intent and obligation to provide a drug-free, healthful and safe work environment. [Company Name] reserves the right to demand a drug or alcohol test of any employee based upon reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicion includes, but is not limited to, physical evidence of use, involvement in an accident, or a substantial drop off in work performance. Failure to take a requested test may lead to discipline, including possible termination. The company also cautions against use of prescribed or over-the-counter medication which can affect your work place performance. You may be suspended or discharged if the company concludes that you cannot...
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...The Types And Process of Drug Rehab Alcohol Drug Drugs and alcohol can destroy not only the life of addicted people, but also their family and loved one’s life. Drug rehab alcohol drug is the new hope for both of all. Drug and alcohol center will help the addicted person to be more sober and clean quickly. Moreover, Treatment is not only the main target of these rehab centers. They always try to make sure that the recovered person never goes back into his past additions. There are different drug and alcohol rehab center are existed in our society. Their working process and formula may vary from other rehab center. For an example-in a Christian rehab center as they give much importance on spiritual faith. They choose faith on God as the best...
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...February, 2014 The Social Problem of Drugs and Alcohol The most serious social problem in chapter 1-5 is the war on drugs and alcohol. This social problem has been in American society since 1971 when President Nixon declared the war on drugs and said drug abuse as “public enemy number one in the United States.” Drugs and alcohol creates many negative effects on society, creates other social problems, and is difficult if not impossible to stop. There are many negative effects on society caused by drugs and alcohol. In the United States they spend more than $51,000,000,000 annually on the war on drugs and alcohol, this is a long term problem, because we are wasting money trying to catch criminals, and drug addiction has stayed almost the same since the 1970’s, so all this spending is obviously not doing anything to stop the war on drugs. 60 % of people federally imprisoned in the United States were convicted of drug charges. Society is paying a huge price on keeping these people convicted in prison, when most of them were convicted of non-violent drugs charges. The government should have rehabilitation programs were people convicted of non-violent drug charges could go, it would save a ton of money because the rehabilitation programs would be shorter and cheaper than keeping people locked up for years and years. All this money is being wasted on trying to win a war you just cannot win, ones desire to escape reality with drugs and alcohol, is stronger then the will to stop it...
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...General Psychology Final Report 2/3/2009 Drug and Alcohol Addiction Many people in the world suffer from drug and alcohol addiction. There are many different causes and effects of addiction. Understanding the causes and effects of addiction can lead to treatment and or cures for them. Some people believe that nature; which refers to heredity, or the influence of inherited characteristics causes addiction. (Ciccarelli and Meyer, 2006). My theory is that nurture; which refers to the influence of the environment, plays a part in it as well. Often times it’s difficult to spot an addict. Some of the signs of being an addict are; mood, body language, and appearance. The mood of an addict can go from mean and angry, if they need a drink or drugs to calm their nerves, or they can be upbeat and very happy, if they are high on drugs or alcohol. Sometimes depending on the type of personality of the addict, they can become very depressed, even when they are high. The body language of someone that is high on drugs or alcohol is often apparent in their eyes, they are often vacant and void of the presence. Often times the eyes communicate an emptiness, loneliness or despair, such as in someone that is depressed. Sometime the pupils of the eyes are dilated, and the person can’t stay focused. (Answers.Yahoo.Com) The appearance of an addict can be an indication that they are using. They will often let their hair grow long and not comb it, or they are just unkempt looking...
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...for using WritePoint. Welcome to WritePoint, the automated review system that recognizes errors most commonly made by university students in academic essays. The system embeds comments into your paper and suggests possible changes in grammar and style. Please evaluate each comment carefully to ensure that the suggested change is appropriate for your paper, but remember that your instructor's preferences for style and format prevail. You will also need to review your own citations and references since WritePoint capability in this area is limited. Thank you for using WritePoint. Alcohol and Drug Addiction COM/156 There was a missing person report across the news today, my co-worker stated. I never paid any attention to it; I went on about my day as if everything was fine. When I arrived at home I had several messages on my answer machine regarding my best friend Sonya. The message said, Samara please call me it’s Sonya’s mother, I haven’t heard from her in a...
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...Alcohol and Drug Addiction Liberty University Abstract This paper is a reflection of addiction in the United States and the statistics that prove addiction is a major issue within the country. Discussed in the paper will be first the primary causes of addiction and risk factors that may lead to an addiction in an individual. Going further into the problem, the cycle of addiction and how to break free of the cycle and an individual’s addiction is talked about. Since there are different drugs that can cause addiction, a breakdown of certain drugs is given. These drugs include alcohol, prescription drugs, heroin, and marijuana. Next, the side effects of drug addiction to the drugs chosen are described in depth as well as the signs that can be viewed in screening for drug addiction. Resources available to drug addiction are touched on and treatment options to explore what can be done if an individual does suffer from drug addiction. Finally, what human service professionals are doing to assist individuals who are addicted and how they can improve on training to ensure that addiction can be caught early enough to make a difference? Introduction to Drug Addiction Addiction is a chronic disease of brain reward, motivation and memory in individuals who submit to any number of different drugs available to them. Such chronic need for the drugs leads to manifestations biologically, psychologically, spiritually and even socially in any given individual (ASAM, 2014). These, however...
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...Drug and Alcohol addiction According to Dictionary.com addiction is defined as, “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” In 2010 the NSDUH (National Survey on Drug Use and Health) estimated that 22.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current illicit drug users. Illicit drugs include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically. More than half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol estimating to 131.3 million people. Solutions for addicts are worldwide, with proceders that use a religious orientation, cognitive-behavior set of techniques, psychoanalysis, treatment centers or awareness programs. With help available, it is still up for that person to gain the courage and search for help. In an article by Riki Markowitz entitled “Drug & Alcohol prevention programs for teens,” Markowitz proclaims that The National Institute on Drug Abuse has determined that research-based drug and alcohol prevention programs successfully deter kids from using drugs. “Youth who participated in the programs had better outcomes than those who did not." This was mention by the NIDA. The goal for this alcohol and drug prevention program is to help the public understand what drives a teen to use drugs and how to prevent drug abuse and eventual...
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...Name: Class: Teacher: Topic: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Drug Abuse. Physiological Effects * Physiological effects of drug abuse vary by the type of drug. Stimulants, such as amphetamines, can delay sleep and elevate a person's mood, but high amounts can cause nervousness and anxiety in the user. Depressants, by contrast, impair mental and physical functions, and slow neural activity in the brain. With some drugs, especially narcotics such as opium or heroin, the body can build a tolerance in which it adjusts to the drug's presence. Over time, the body requires higher doses to maintain the same effect. When an abuser stops taking the drug, the body experiences withdrawal symptoms, such as feeling weak or sick. Withdrawal symptoms are the body's reaction to the absence of the drug to which it had become adjusted. Social Effects * The social effects of drug abuse begin with abusers and their families. Substance abuse has been a factor in divorce, family violence and related problems. The social effects extend into the larger society, as well, such as through crimes committed by drug abusers to get money needed to feed drug habits. Further, the lucrative nature of drug trafficking fuels crime as rival drug gangs fight for control of the traffic. The U.S. government, for example, noted increased drug-related violence on the U.S.-Mexico border and cited drug gangs in these areas as the nation's leading organized crime threat Economic Effects * Reports...
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...Running Head: DRUGS AND ALCOHOL ABUSE Drugs and Alcohol Substance Abuse What is substance abuse and addiction? Substance abuse is a pattern of use of drugs and/or alcohol for non-medical purposes for altering the mood, mind, and behavior. This is a serious problem and people that abuse drugs and/or alcohol can get sick, destroy their lives and the lives of family and friends. Death has resulted from substance abuse. Commonly abused is alcohol, prescription or over the counter drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, depressants, inhalants, marijuana, narcotics, and even tobacco. Substance abuse can occur in all ages, social statuses and races. Addiction is dependence and a compulsive need to use the substance no matter what the outcome may be. Addiction is the compulsion to use the substance to feel satisfied and a person that is addicted to drugs or alcohol will have withdrawal symptoms if they stop using the substance. With addiction there is a psychological and physical aspect in that the person is unable to control the addiction without help. Addiction is not a habit. A habit can be controlled and a person can choose to stop a habit without issues. Addiction puts a person out of control of choices and not in control of their life. The drugs or alcohol are controlling the person. The cause of addiction can be a combination of physical, emotional, mental and a change of circumstances in a person’s life. According to Hammer (2012), addiction has been understood...
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...Alcohol and Drug Abuse among Adolescent Nyria Madison Liberty University Coun 620 Abstract Around the world we are finding that most adolescent are experiencing drugs and alcohol. Adolescent who are experiencing the use of drugs has been a factor for decades. This has become a major trend in this world as of today. This paper will discuss the standpoint of adolescent alcohol and drugs. This paper will also identify and inform you on the common predictors of adolescent substance abuse. In addition, this paper will review ways on how substance abuse can lead to become a negative behavior from the adolescent micro, mezzo, and macro system. This paper will focus on how peer, family characteristic, and individual and factors connection with substance abuse in adolescents. It also will demonstrate a relationship that links to factors in at risk youth. However, researchers has shown that most adolescent and at risk teens are influence by drugs and alcohol because of their peers, family and individual characteristic. Introduction Society today has a huge trend on Alcohol and drugs among adolescent. This has become a huge impact on at risk teens. However, adolescent may reflect on drugs because of plethora circumstances. Adolescent may believe that alcohol and drugs may help them to cope better with their problems. According to McWhirter, Alcohol and other drug involvement and use among adolescents have been a society and public problem for decades (McWhirter...
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...Alexis Serrano Drugs, Alcohol, and Society Response Paper 3 How do you feel about the complex history of LSD? I cannot believe how powerful and potentially dangerous it is. After learning about LSD, I am not surprised it was used somehow in the military. Using specific examples from the extra reading, what was most surprising to you about our government's handling of LSD? Used as a mind control agent in the military, can see why they used it back then although they never knew how dangerous it was; was only surprised at first. Do you think there is any credence to the concept of "bloodless war" through the use of psychedelics? The only time I would consider credence to bloodless war is when they used psychedelics in the military Why do you think most military and government officials never predicted the potential popularity of the substances they were experimenting with? It was only produced in California so they would not expect it to spread because not enough people even knew how to make it Also, what are your own personal feelings about the use of psychedelic drugs & what have your experiences been like with them? Never been involved with psychedelic drugs and if anyone around me used or uses them, I would not know. Does the motive behind use have influence over your opinions (i.e. college students eating mushrooms at a concert vs. attending a mushroom healing ceremony in the Amazon)? Motives behind use have not influenced me in any way. I...
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